As i’m sitting here at work in Portsmouth, NH, under a Severe Thunderstorm Watch, the news just filtered in from the guys over at Quiznos that there was “a tornado warning in Rochester and an evacuation order for those people in mobile homesr”, one of their employees is driving home to his girlfreind and baby to evacuate them…
i confirmed it on the NOAA website, there IS in fact, a tornado warning in Rochester, not far from here
and the first rumbles of thunder have started, that sky looks dark and evil…
i called home (York, Maine) to warn them, and they’re taking steps to hunker down in the basement if neccecary…
rather scary thing for us New Englanders, as tornados aren’t exactly common here, i hope the tornado doesn’t form up…
National Weather Service Gray Me
348 Pm Edt Tue Jun 5 2007
The National Weather Service In Gray Maine Has Issued A
-
Severe Thunderstorm Warning For…
York County In Southwest Maine…
-
Until 445 Pm Edt
-
At 344 Pm Edt…national Weather Service Doppler Radar Indicated A
Severe Thunderstorm Capable Of Producing Nickel Size Hail…and
Damaging Winds In Excess Of 60 Mph. This Storm Was Located 16
Miles South Of Lebanon…or About Near Durham…and Moving
Northeast At 25 Mph.
-
Some Locations In The Warning Include But Are Not Limited To
Lebanon…sanford…springvale…kennebunk…alfred…waterboro…
Saco…hollis And Biddeford.
Please Report Hail Or Strong Winds To The National Weather Service By
Calling Toll Free…1-877-633-6772…when You Can Do So Safely.
A Severe Thunderstorm Watch Remains In Effect Until 700 Pm Edt
Tuesday Evening For Southwestern Maine And New Hampshire.
We get tornado warnings on the radio periodically for the areas north of the GTA, especially far north in cottage country. I really hope the employee’s girlfriend and baby, and everyone else in the area, is okay…
well, as expected (and hoped), the storm was a lot of “sound and fury, signifying nothing”, a few good thunderclaps, chain lightning, torrential rain, then sunny skies…
there were a few unnerving moments here in Portsmouth, though…
1; a line of clouds, dark and brooding gray, they had a distinct “hook” shape, the sky immediately beyond was orange…
2; below that line of clouds was a white, wispy puff of clouds that was rising rapidly, like it was being sucked up
3; behind the movie theatre (in the same stripmall we’re in) towards downtown Portsmouth, the clouds in the vicinity of the theatre were green, and moving to the left, there was a vaguely “funnel-esque” group of gray clouds, moving to the right, and beginning to take on a vaguely funnel-like shape, it literally looked like i was watching a tornado form, moments later, the skies opened up and the cloud destabilized and dissapated
all this time, there were lightning strikes close by…
it was the closest i’ve yet been to a potential tornadic environment, and for the most part, the storm appears to have moved out to sea…
Actually, the system’s still lingering on, it came back with a vengance no less than a half hour after my last post
storm system 2;
massive thunderstorm, thunderclaps directly overhead, the minimall we’re in took a direct strike, knocking out our Comcast cable internet feed, horizontal rain, rain so heavy you couldn’t see a foot in front of you, pea sized hail, the road outside the minimall had minor flooding
storm system 3, 20 minutes after system 2; still thundering and lightning, hard rain, but nowhere near as bad as the last two, if the first two storms were 9 on a scale of 1-10, system 3 would rate a 4.5
storm system 4; currently rumbling off in the distance, i’m back at home, and waiting for this one to hammer us, looking at the weather maps on weather.com, this one’s got another red patch heading right for us
it’s not over yet…
it seems the storm is having a bit of fun with the republican debate tonight.
guiliani’s response on abortion got zapped.